2021 Winter Review Magazine

Page 12

| around campus |

Francine Diaz '21 Receives Hispanic Heritage Youth Award for Social Justice Saint James sixth former Francine Diaz was recently named the bronze recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards in the Social Justice category. Founded in 1998 by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the prestigious Youth Awards program honors Latino high school seniors who excel in the classroom and community and for their excellence in various categories. From thousands of applications nationwide, three students were selected for each category in 10 different regions across the country. Each will receive a one-time grant to fund their college education or to fund a community service effort that tackles a social issue. From Kearny, New Jersey, Francine first heard about the Youth Awards from a teacher at home. She chose the social justice category because it resonated with her, and then completed an essay as part of a lengthy application process. She was thrilled to be an award recipient for a very competitive region comprised of eight states, including New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Francine and her fellow award recipients were honored in a virtual ceremony on March 11. Francine stated that her primary goal is to give a voice to those who may not be able to use their own. Last summer, she led a peaceful demonstration in Hoboken, New Jersey, to speak up against police brutality incidents taking place across the country. Francine said she worked with an organization called Allies for Justice to organize and then communicated details through social media. Several thousand 10

Review • Winter 2021

people attended the rally, and Francine had the opportunity to meet the mayor of Hoboken, and she was even featured on Channel 41 news, a Spanish-language station she grew up watching with her parents. “I said that I thought this was a time for us all to become united and not divided by the things that are going on in our nation,” she said. In the fall, Francine joined the student Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee on campus. She feels the groundwork they have started this year will positively impact students in the years to come, including her sister Jenifer, a current third former. “It’s so important because this has been like a second home to me, as it has for so many other people,” she said. “We’re getting a lot of things improved and addressing topics that are hard to address anywhere you go. Saint James has done a great job in supporting us.” Francine said living in such a diverse community is a beautiful experience to have every day. “To see someone from a different nation or culture and have them tell you about their experiences and learn from each other’s differences and all live together is so unique,”

she said. “I’m so happy for that experience.” Helping others has always been important to Francine. In her first year at Saint James, she set up donation bins in Coors Hall to collect clothing to take to Ecuador, where her parents are from and where she has many family members that she visits each summer. “At the end of the year, a lot of girls will get rid of clothes, and I was thinking there is so much here that we could give back,” Francine said. “A lot of girls in Coors were excited to help. Not only were they giving things they didn’t want, but also clothes they just wanted to donate.” Prior to her trip, she shipped 300 pounds of clothes that went to Ecuadorian girls in an orphanage in a rural part of the country. She also


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